Jack Hunt thinks that Sheffield Wednesday would be challenging for promotion, along with Fulham, under Carlos Carvalhal.

The Owls are finishing the season with a lot less fanfare than usual due to being a long distance away from the play-offs in 16th place. In contrast, the last two seasons have seen them finish in fifth and fourth place, but promotion to the Premier League was a step too far.

Unfortunately, this season wasn't third time lucky as originally hoped at the start.

Sheffield Wednesday lost 1-0 to the Cottagers in a game which was controlled by the visitors, although Wednesday still had good chances.

This win means that Fulham keep up the pressure on Cardiff in second with a two-point gap separating them, although the Bluebirds have a game in hand against Derby County.

Hunt had this to say about Carvalhal and the game as quoted by the Yorkshire Post: "I genuinely believe that before Carlos went we could have had a play-off push."

"We could have done that with the players we’ve had missing – and there are a lot of people that we have missed this season."

"They had a lot of possession and we limited them to just a couple of chances but we were nothing special."

The Verdict

This verdict seems to be one born of frustration rather than anything else because Hunt acknowledges the injury woes that Wednesday have struggled with this season.

Hunt was probably more annoyed with the fact that Wednesday's 3-5-2 formation was ill-equipped to deal with Fulham's wide threats because of the ability to overload down the flanks which left him isolated in 2v1 situations.

It's highly unlikely that Carvalhal would have been able to do anything different if he was given longer because the team's attacking play was starting to become stale under him with little penetration or threat.